New Delhi: After 50 years of service, the phaseout of the MiG-21 will begin in 2017 as confirmed by Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne. It is expected to be replaced by the Light Combat Aircraft (LAC) Tejas.
IAF operates about 80 (four squadrons) of these Russian-origin planes in its fleet and due to the recurring problems in their engines, it had to ground all of them after a crash.
A few years ago, a study was conducted to check the problems in the engines of the aircraft and it was found that the R-29s engines have developed some defect which was very difficult to be corrected.
After the report, IAF took a considered decision about retiring these aircraft from operational service in a phased manner, the officials said. "The first to be phased out would be the two squadrons based in Kalaikunda and then by 2017, the remaining two deployed in Jodhpur would also be on their way out of the force," they said.
The squadrons based in Jodhpur had undergone upgrades at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited recently and that is why they have more life left in them, the officials said. IAF is also planning to phase out the crash-prone MiG-21 combat aircraft around the same time frame. MiG-23 fighter and bomber aircraft which were inducted in the 1980s have already been phased out.
(With Additional Inputs From PTI)
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